W

hile Jakarta awaits the delayed issuance of electronic identity cards, or e-IDs, the administration has reassured the capital’s citizens that the new cards will eliminate all cases of double ID ownership, of which 250,000 cases have been reported in the city.

“The safety of these [e-ID cards] is assured. They cannot be cloned,” Jakarta Civil Registration Agency chief Purba Hutapea told reporters on Wednesday.

Purba explained that in processing the e-IDs, the central government would issue a single identity number which would store each citizen’s personal data, as well as digitized fingerprint and iris scan data. He said this would make duplication impossible.

He said that of the 7.3 million ID card holders in Jakarta, 250,000 had two ID cards. In the majority of cases, he continued, this was because a person had moved to another area in the city and had made a second ID card for that area.

“For example, someone who used to live in Jakarta and owns a Jakarta ID card moves to Depok and makes a Depok ID card, too,” he said.

Multiple ID card ownership can causes several problems, especially when it comes to voting in regional elections. Having a second ID card would allow someone to vote in two separate regions, which is illegal.

Purba said that he hoped that the issuance of e-IDs in Jakarta could be completed before the 2012 regional elections.

“If the e-IDs are completed on schedule, it would be great for the 2012 regional elections as there would be no double ID misuse.”

The issuance of e-IDs in Jakarta, which was initially scheduled for Aug. 1, has been pushed back to Aug. 18 due to an equipment delivery delay.

The government has set a 100-day target for all regencies to replace all IDs with the new cards, starting on Aug. 18.

Jakarta Regional Representatives Council member Djan Faridz said that given the logistics involved, the target was unrealistic.

“Assuming there are 267 regencies and a total of 7.3 million citizens, all regencies would have to serve around 273 citizens each day. Is this possible within working hours?”

However, Djan agreed that the e-ID cards would resolve the problem of multiple ownership of IDs, adding that he hoped the system could be implemented as soon as possible. “If not, certain parties could take advantage of [double ID ownership] in the 2012 regional elections,” he said.

The Home Ministry began the distribution of desktop computers, fingerprint scanners, iris scanners, cameras and modems last week to sub-district offices in 197 regencies and cities across the nation.

The Jakarta Civil Registration Agency said on Monday that 244 of the city’s 267 sub-district offices had received the equipment. (awd)